As I write this, I'm astounded that I drank for 11 hours yesterday. I wasn't binge drinking till I passed out or danced on the tables, but had a slow, steady stream of wine flowing through my system all day. For 11 hours.

The day started at 11 a.m. with a workshop called "Heal the World With Pinot," in which several winemakers showcased their wines and explained the science behind the art of creating--and drinking--wine.

It was quite technical till they got to Gary Pisoni, who had already enjoyed a good amount of Pinot. (His wine, by the way, is really good.) In Kapalua wine festival tradition, his friends burst into song while he did his version of the hula.

After the workshop, the festival had a wine "tour," where we went to four different places around the property to try wines and talk to the winemakers. I found a new favorite Argentinian wine!

When the wine tour was done, we rushed back to the ballroom to a "Zins and cheese" workshop. This was a collection of outstanding cheeses and red zinfandels that would match. My new fave is that orange cheese in the top left, a salty Dutch cheese.

Making trouble in the classroom: I sat behind John Heckathorn and my neighbor, Derek Paiva.

After sticking around to socialize with twitter people, we were left with just 30 minutes to get ready for a tour of the herb garden outside the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua's Banyan Tree restaurant.

Did you know that Kapalua resort is into sustainability, eating local, and eating organic? Chef Marc, who is now also a farmer, explains why they decided to grow their own herb garden.

After the tour, we ran up to the pool to say hi to Christa Wittmier at her Liquid Luxury party. We had a drink, then rushed back to the restaurant for dinner. You see, we were invited to the Banyan Tree to partake of a special wine dinner featuring food paired with selections from Neal Winery. Mark Neal himself is here with Chef Ryan Urig, who created the meal.

To start: This is abalone with brussels sprouts, lamb bacon, and dates.

Watermelon salad with fresh horseradish, lychee, sprouts, and popcorn. The round disk was a fragile bubble filled with watermelon juice.

Crispy moi on English pea risotto.

The lobster was just right! Not too heavy!

Foie gras on grilled ahi with a rhubarb cherry sauce.

Grilled lamb loin with lentil dahl and raita. This was so delish! I ate this first, then took a bite of my neighbor's wagyu beef. The beef paled in comparison!

Carrot cake cupcake with an ice cream that tastes like whipped cream...only it's not. I don't think I gave anyone else a chance to eat the ice cream!

But wait, there's more! Summer berry consomme with Surfing Goat Cheese sorbet and white balsamic foam. Very nice!

Chocolate tasting: Dark fudge cake, milk chocolate molten cake, white chocolate-vanilla sorbet.

At that point, we had seconds of the Neal Family, Wykoff Vineyard cabernet. This was definitely a stellar wine, and we were spoiled for anything else after that!

By the time we finished, it was 10 p.m. That's right, we had been drinking for 11 hours. That's what the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival is all about!

It's been a whirlwind weekend, so I'm kind of cheating with the posts! Friday was the first day for us and it was really busy for the media folks.

One of the highlights of the day was taking a tour of the Kapalua Farms and the Maui Gold pineapple fields. Carlos, at left, and Shawn were great tour guides. If you'd like to take a tour when on Maui, you can book it with the resort.

Chef Mark Tafoya did this tour last week and did a great little video about it here. Kapalua Farms recently got its organic certification, and is now the largest organic farm in the state.

The F&B Director at the Kapalua Cafe was telling me that they work directly with the farm not just to use the produce they grow there, but to experiment with new products. He might mention to the farm, "I'm interested in maybe using this fresh ingredient in a new dish," and the farm will seek it out so they can grow it. You gotta give props to a resort that supports sustainable eating!

Then they had us pick our own pineapple. You should be impressed by this photo--it was quite difficult for me to do this in slippers!

I met Liane Thompson of Hawaii Modern Luxury Magazine, and we went off in search of the perfect pineapple. Off so much that the bus almost left without us!! Ha ha. It was fun, though.

I barely had time to check my email, when I had to go to the new Kapalua Spa, which will be opening soon. I wanted to get a lot of "sneak preview" photos for you, but much of it is still under construction.

The spa made sure that at least a few of the massage rooms were ready so they could do a test run on the media. I elected to try a ‘Awa & Cacao Lomi Wrap, since I had never done a body wrap before. It starts with me and the therapist, Carrie, doing an 'awa ceremony. Each of us drank from these bowls and clapped three times, and then she proceeded to give a lomi massage while exfoliating me with a blend of Hawaiian ‘awa, cacao, ginger, sandalwood, and oats to aid in eliminating toxins in the body.

The 'awa didn't taste like dirt! And I think it was helpful in completely relaxing me as she did the massage, because I never had such a clean, loose feeling in my muscles by the end. I don't know how to describe it because it was really a unique sensation. I highly recommend it.

That evening, the big event was the Grand Tasting at the Ritz-Carlton. The big question for newbies like me is, "What do I wear?" You can wear aloha attire or resort wear. There will be people who are dressed up, but I'd suggest you go casual. It's outdoor and the ground is uneven, so you need to be able to move about freely.

This year's theme was "Carnival," and they had New Orleans-inspired foods. Some of the dishes were spicy, like the one above, but there was a good variety of foods to go with the wines.

Look who I found!! Local entertainer Sonya Mendez, left, and Makaha Mango diva Candy Suiso. This was the first time for all of us, so we were taking tons of photos like a bunch of tourists.

My tarot card reading. Want to know what she told me?

The staff working this table remembered the three of us the next day. I guess we hovered at the brie longer than anyone else!

My trip would not have been complete without meeting Master Sommelier Fred Dame, the mentor to so many sommeliers across the country. He poured some excellent glasses of wine and was not pretentious at all. My life is complete! Well, almost.

Next: Raising Reislings from the Dead, and more.